Diane Courtney

Diane Courtney (born Lillian Perron; ) was an American singer who performed on radio and in clubs. She had a range of octaves.

Early years Courtney was born Lillian Perron in Fall River, Massachusetts. Her father and her mother, Arline Trottier, a mezzo-soprano who starred with the Paris Opera Comique, were French. From the time she was born, they wanted her to have a career in classical music. Her studies at the Dominican Academy focused on the history of France, music, and the arts, and when she graduated at age 12 she did not know English.

Career

Radio In 1939 the trio that had begun at the conservatory disbanded with the marriage of one member. Courtney traveled to New York, auditioned for Fred Waring, and became Honey in the trio Two Bees and a Honey. After a year in that role she found work as a soloist on the Blue Network. In 1941 she sang blues songs on The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street. By April 1942 she was also heard on the Blue Network twice a week singing with the Jesters and once a week on her own program. In March 1943 she had become the featured singer on Milton Berle's new program on CBS. She was a regular on Jerry Lester's program that debuted on July 25, 1943.

Song Hits Magazine named Courtney the outstanding new songstress of 1944. In the summer of that year, she substituted for Irene Beasley while Beasley took a two-week vacation from her weekday afternoon CBS radio program. She was the "singing bridesmaid" on Honeymoon in New York, which debuted in early 1946.

Night clubs When Courtney performed in night clubs she adapted her selection of songs to the listeners. Usually beginning with 20-25 songs, she said, "If one doesn't go over the first night, I try it the next. If it is not accepted then, I discard it. It is necessary to study the audience." Even when she retained songs, she varied the way she performed them. She said, "I never sing a song the same way twice." the Triangle Room in the Seventh Avenue Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Club Bali in Miami, Shoreham Blue Room in Washington, D. C.; El Casbah at the Hotel Bellerive in Kansas City; the Flame in Duluth, Minnesota; McVan's Hertel-Niagara Club in Buffalo, New York; and the Latin Quarter in Montreal, Canada.

In early 1950 Courtney sang in resort areas of South America and the West Indies, including night clubs in Caracas, Colon, Curacao, Havana, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. That tour was followed immediately by an engagement in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Critical response After seeing Courtney sing at Cafe Life in New York City, Sid Weiss wrote in the trade publication Radio Daily: "Diane has everything the exacting Gods of fortune demand. She's got personality, charm and the power to 'sell' a torch song to a degree few possess. Someday Diane will be a star — a great personality."